Alliance for Catholic Education
"Good character, but loosen up a little bit. You've got the professional side of your character down, but you need to make her a little friendlier. Combine the business of Juror 4 with the party of Juror 7. You're the mullet of the jury."
-Mr. Augustinsky (Me!)
It is currently well into the season for the Spring Drama Production at Tampa Catholic and I am spending my afternoons turning 12 happy high schoolers into 12 Angry Jurors (12 Angry Men might be more familiar, but it is not as appropriate when only three of your jurors are male). We have been through the pre-audition process, then auditions, then callbacks, then casting, and now I am directing my actors in their blocking and discovering their character. At least an hour is dedicated everyday afterschool and that time commitment is only going to go up the closer we get to April 4. My life would be so much easier if I wasn't moderating drama club. But it would be nowhere near as fun.
Something beautiful happens when students begin performing: they stop caring about what other people think of them and they just are. Sometimes it takes pretending to be other people to learn to be ourselves. Whoever was the first person to say "theatre is the shy man's revenge" hit the nail on the head. Students who never talk in class suddenly come alive on the stage and show the world their true colors. And I love it. Isn't producing smart, confident young adults what education is all about?
The above picture is what my classroom looks like when 4:30 rolls around every day. After having done battle with inelastic collisions and mole calculations and density comparisons, the markers and white board finally give in to the creative outpouring that is thrown upon them. It is a mess and the desks are everywhere. But am I angry? Nah...I've got 12 Angry Jurors for that. I'm content being 1 Happy Teacher.